


How River Song Got Her Pardon

by citrinesunset



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Community: kink_bingo, F/F, Prison
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-30
Updated: 2010-09-30
Packaged: 2017-12-25 01:54:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/947234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/citrinesunset/pseuds/citrinesunset
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While in prison, River Song receives a surprising visitor: Queen Elizabeth X. What initially looks like an opportunity to finally get her pardon becomes something more.</p>
            </blockquote>





	How River Song Got Her Pardon

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this to fulfill the caging/confinement square on my 2010 kink_bingo card.

It had been a long time since River had a visitor. She had little family and few close friends. In her work, she was more respected than liked, and she could think of a few colleagues who were probably a little glad to see her locked up. She was glad they hadn't contacted her.

So when a guard appeared at her cell and said, "Dr. Song, you have a visitor," it got her attention immediately. She put down the book she was reading and got up.

"Who is it?" she asked, walking to the cell door.

The young, uniformed man took a breath, like he couldn't believe what he was going to say."It's the Queen of England."

River had grown used to improbable things occurring to her. After knowing the Doctor, there were few surprises in life. Even so, she couldn't have imagined this, even in the long hours in her cell where she had little to do but think and read. Footsteps echoed in the hall, coming closer. River craned her neck and peered through the bars.

It had been six months since she'd fleetingly met Queen Elizabeth X, late one night in the Royal Collection. She'd thought little of it at the time, and little since then.

The Queen was flanked by two guards. She was wearing an velvety blue cloak with the hood drawn up, and her heeled shoes clicked on the floor.

When she stopped in front of River's cell, River nodded and said, "Your Majesty."

The Queen nodded. "Dr. Song." She turned to the guards and said, "Let me in, and leave us alone. I want privacy."

The first guard said, "Your Majesty, for your safety I must—"

She looked at him. "I _said_ , let me in and leave us alone. Or does being Queen not get me some respect around here?"

The guards looked at each other with tight, almost pained, expressions. River stepped back as they unlocked the cell and let the Queen enter before locking it again.

One of the guards pointed at a camera mounted on the ceiling across the hall. "You can wave at the camera when you're ready to leave. We'll be nearby, and we'll come at the first indication of trouble."

When the guards had left, the Queen dragged the sole chair to the middle of the cell and straddled it. Slowly, River sat on her bunk.

"I'm afraid I'm not very equipped for guests," River said. "If I were, I'd offer you some tea." She paused, and said, "I don't mean to be rude, but may I ask why you're here?"

"We met once before. You told me you know the Doctor."

"That's right."

"Can you contact him?"

River took a deep breath. "Your Majesty…"

"You can call me Liz."

Liz stood up, and walked towards the barred window. She lowered the hood of her cloak and looked up and out at the gray skies. "I'd like to talk to him. Can you bring him to me?"

"I could. But probably not from here."

Liz nodded. "Right. I was surprised to find out where you were."

River smiled. "You didn't imagine I was a murderer? I'm surprised you trust me."

Liz didn't answer. "I read you're being considered for a pardon."

"So they say. I think they lied."

"Oh?"

River sat back, resting her head against the concrete wall. "Five months ago, they told me I might get a pardon if I went on a death-defying mission for them. I'm still waiting for their decision. I think that's probably a 'No,' don't you?"

Liz looked at her, but didn't respond. River continued. "If I got a chance to talk to the Doctor, what should I tell him?"

"That the Queen would like his advice, and has run out of people to talk to."

She waved at the camera, and the guards came moments later.

 

* * *

 

River thought that would be that. She made a note of her meeting with Liz and the date in her diary. When she got the chance, she'd meet up with the Doctor and pass on the message. Then it'd be in his hands.

But a week later, Liz came back, almost as unexpectedly as the first time.

"Why are you here? Did you want to talk to **me** ," River asked.

They were sitting as before, with Liz in the plain wooden chair and River on her bunk. Liz cocked her head. "Pardon?"

"You said you'd run out of people to talk to. And now you're here, visiting a prisoner you hardly know. I'm not sure how to interpret it."

River had wished for visitors sometimes, but this was strange in a way that bordered on intrusive. Even so, it wasn't worse than being alone.

"I'm curious about you," Liz said. "That's all."

"You're royalty. You must have plenty of amusements."

Liz raised an eyebrow. "You'd be surprised." She leaned forward and glanced at the hall, as though checking that they were alone. "I could help you with your pardon. I could get you out of here."

River's heart pounded with anticipation. When she spoke, she tried to sound neutral. "Could you? This isn't a British prison."

"Yeah? Well I'm still a bloody queen."

"And why would you do that?"

"You're the Doctor's friend."

For a minute, River didn't say anything. It was only early evening, but the sky outside was already dark and the cell was dimly lit. She tried to see the expression on Liz's face, but half her face was covered in shadows.

"Thank you."

 

* * *

 

"I think I've grown tired of being queen," Liz said.

It was her third time visiting. She'd come to tell River that she'd said her heartfelt entreaties to the court, requesting a pardon. But now, she'd grown solemn.

"Is that why you want the Doctor?" River asked. She crossed her arms and looked at Liz.

Liz turned her head towards her, but her eyes were cast to the side. "I'm not sure what to do sometimes. I'm surrounded by politics and people who won't respect me. My own advisors try to control me. Times have changed, Dr. Song. Being queen isn't what it used to be."

Liz looked down and picked up the book that was lying on River's bunk. It was a book about ancient Earth history, in particular the culture of China several thousand years ago.

"That book is from 2045," River said, as Liz thumbed through it.

Liz looked up at her. "It's like new."

"I've only had it a decade. Perk of knowing a time traveler." She nodded at the book. "The information is priceless. There are archeologists today who barely know what Earth was like."

Liz closed the book and set it back on the bunk. "I suppose we're all forgotten, eventually." She looked outside at the darkening sky. "I should go. It's late."

"Will you come back?"

"Yes," Liz said, without hesitation. More carefully, she said, "I'd like to kiss you goodbye."

River didn't show her surprise."All right, then."

Liz stepped forward and put an arm around River's back. She kissed her softly on the lips, and River closed her eyes, not opening them again until she felt Liz let her go. Cool air replaced Liz's lips.

When River opened her eyes, Liz had turned toward the cell door. She glanced back and said, "It's been too long since I kissed a beautiful woman."

River just smiled. "Likewise."

Liz turned back and signaled for the guards to come and let her out.

 

* * *

 

It'd been a while since River had a lover, and even longer since she'd had a lover who was royalty.

That wasn't to say Liz was the strangest romance she'd had. River had been around enough.

The guards, on the other hand, did seem to find it strange. River loved to see the looks on their faces when they brought Liz to her cell. She knew if Liz weren't Queen, they would never be allowed to see each other. But while Liz may not have had any direct authority there, it _did_ earn her a certain amount of clout.

She came once or twice a week, wearing shimmering dresses and cloaks that dragged along the cement floor. It gave River something to base her weeks around. River needed an anchor. When she'd traveled with the Doctor, time moved quickly for her. Now, it dragged on. Either way, there was no perspective.

Liz's visits did that for her.

One evening, Liz asked, "Are you married?"

"Why?" River asked with a smile. "Would it bother you to have a married lover."

"No," Liz said plainly. "It never has."

"Well I'm available," River said. Then, changing the subject, she asked, "Would you take me out somewhere, if you could?"

"Oh, yes."

"Where?"

"The theater. I'd make love to you in my private box."

River smiled and leaned back on her bunk. Her hair splayed out on the pillow. "Lovely. Tell me more."

Liz sat on the bed, beside River's legs. She ran a hand over River's stomach. "I'd rather show you. I've always been a tactile person."

As she said it, she ran a hand up River's thigh.

River nodded at the space behind Liz, outside the cell. "We're being watched, you know."

Liz glanced briefly and carelessly over her shoulder. "Does it bother you?"

River shook her head. "I just thought I should mention it."

"Everything I do is watched. It's my curse." She leaned in for a kiss, and River sat up to accept it. Liz's lips were warm and sticky with lip gloss.

Sitting back, Liz opened the front of her blouse. She pulled it open, just enough to show River one of her breasts, which were bare under her shirt. River sat up and touched her, rubbing a thumb across her nipple.

"You're gorgeous," River said.

Liz had her back to the camera in the hall, but River didn't imagine they were being that subtle. Anyone watching would have little trouble discerning what was going on in the cell.

Abruptly, Liz moved River's hand. "Lie down."

River did so. She ran a hand through Liz's thick, dark curls while Liz unzipped River's trousers and slid her hand inside.

It'd been a while since River had been touched by any hand but her own. She closed her eyes, and breathed deeply when Liz slid a finger across her clit.

It was quick and efficient. Liz moved her finger in a circle. Her face was flushed and she panted through her mouth like she'd been running. Her hand was constrained by River's trousers, and the touch was agonizingly insufficient, like just a little more would be enough to set her over the edge. But when she looked at Liz, at the curly hair falling over her shoulders and the small, round breasts with erect nipples that hung free from her shirt, everything was just right.

River hadn't come like this in a long time. She felt the orgasm start in her groin and course through her with a shudder and spasm.

Her heart was still pounding as Liz buttoned her blouse and prepared to leave.

 

* * *

 

River had always tried to be honest to herself. She knew some of her draw to Liz was based on what she could give her, at least while this thing between them lasted. River imagined getting her freedom, and living in an apartment somewhere fit for royalty.

She wasn't a _gold digger_. The idea made River cringe with disgust. But she'd never shied from receiving gifts from her lovers, in whatever form they took. In her own way, she always returned the favor.

Once, Liz brought her a silky blue wrap with beaded fringe, nicer than anything River had had since coming to prison. River had taken it with a pleased gasp, and had worn it the next time Liz visited.

She'd had enough relationships and arrangements to not take any of them too seriously. They were special while they lasted, but ultimately transitory.

Still, that didn't stop her from feeling like a teenager sometimes. On the days she expected Liz to come, she put on makeup and waited, counting the minutes and hours until she arrived. At night, she would finger herself under the sheet, imagining herself naked in Liz's bed.

Sometimes, she would dream of them together, and wake up aroused and disappointed.

Today, she was happy to hear the footsteps coming down the hall, until she realized there was only one set of them. A guard stopped in front of her cell.

"You have a visitor, Dr. Song. Please come with me."

This was new. Inmates were supposed to receive visits in special visiting rooms, but she and Liz had bypassed that rule. She wondered if the prison was making Liz obey it now.

But it wasn't Liz in the room. It was an older, balding man in a suit, who wore an expression that looked both stern and concerned at the same time. He was small, but had a round head that looked large for his body. He was sitting at a table in the middle of the room.

The guard left them alone and closed the door, and River took the free chair facing the man.

"Dr. Song," he said, "my name is Phineas Smith. I'm an advisor to Her Majesty Elizabeth X, and I would like to talk to you about your involvement with her, if you don't mind."

"I think I do mind. Does she know you're here?"

"That's unimportant. Did you realize that the tabloids have heard of your affair?"

River sat back in her chair. "Hardly my concern. Tabloids will make anything up. Her Majesty has merely taken an interest in my case. She thinks she can get me a pardon."

Smith closed his eyes. "Right, yes, that. I'm not sure what you've heard, Dr. Song, but Her Majesty has no authority to grant you a pardon. And her pleas to the court have become a nuisance. Any credibility she might have had has been ruined by your obvious sexual affair. You are not getting out, and the Queen has become a subject of ridicule."

For a moment, she wondered if that was true, and if she was at fault for putting Liz in this situation. But she said, "I haven't made her come. She seems quite capable to make up her own mind on this. What are you, anyway? Her advisor or her handler?"

Smith pursed his lips. "Look, if you care for Her Majesty, you won't accept her visits anymore."

"Would that be polite? She is Queen, after all."

"We can get you out of here. There are powerful people who would be willing to appeal to the court if it meant keeping the Queen out of this mess. You could be out of here within a month, with some money to start a new life somewhere."

"And in exchange…"

"You won't see her again."

"No deal."

Smith sighed. "Be reasonable, Dr. Song. Is your…affection for the Queen worth more than your freedom?"

River stood up and walked towards the door. "It's not about affection or sex, Mr. Smith. I won't be bullied, and I don't think your queen will be, either. So no deal."

 

* * *

 

A few days later, she got a letter, written on paper in red ink.

_River,_

_We have to lie low. I'm being watched and patronized. Forgive me. We'll see each other soon._

_-Liz_

River folded it and set it aside. So they were getting to her, then. Or maybe Liz was more concerned with propriety than she let on. A lot of people were.

River doubted they really would see each other again. It was over.

And it wasn't the lost chance at a pardon that weighed on her the most.

 

* * *

 

River woke up to the sound of sirens blaring. She sat up, and saw the flashing lights from the corridor before she saw anything else. It was a security breach.

Then she heard the shot.

Outside her cell was cloaked figure, aiming a gun at the controls to the cell door. River heard the lock disengage.

She got up and ran to the door. "Liz...?"

"Hello, darling. Grab your things."

"What are you doing?"

River listened for the sound of footsteps. How much time did they have before the guards came? No more than a few minutes.

"I'm securing your pardon."

River grinned. She started grabbing everything of value and putting it in a bag. Her books. The blue wrap. "I'm pretty sure this is illegal, even for you."

"Law's open to interpretation. Now hurry up."

Grabbing the bag, River ran from the open cell into the hallway. She grabbed Liz's hand, and they ran. 


End file.
